A blog by Steve Malchow

Day: October 10, 2013

Post navigation

The people who vote on the weekly college football rankings seem to focus on one set of numbers: wins and losses. That’s the simplest way to measure performance but maybe not always the best.

Not all undefeated or 1- or 2-loss teams are created equal. At some point, evaluators need to make a personal judgment on a team’s merits.

That is how I look at the 2013 Iowa State football season to date.

Although everyone who follows the program wishes (or believes) the Cyclones had more victories, there’s not much room debate that ISU is getting better and better. Coach Paul Rhoads subscribes to that sentiment.

“I do believe – whatever word you want to attach to it… dramatically, drastically, significantly… without a doubt, we’ve improved every single week and every single game,” Rhoads said. “We want to continue doing that and the team recognizes they’re fully capable of that (improvement).”

The Cyclones were outgained by 47 and 59 yards in the opening two games before reversing that trend in weeks three (+60 yards at Tulsa) and four (+100 yards vs. Texas).

Rhoads feels the improvement will start showing up in the win column if the team continues on this path. Based upon the team’s attitude in practice and meetings, Rhoads strongly believes the Cyclones will continue their improvement.

“There are a number of games out there that we’re going to have opportunities to win as long as the kids keep progressing,” Rhoads said.

In what appears to be a balanced Big 12 this fall, just a couple of wins can change a team’s fortunes very quickly and Saturday morning in Lubbock would be a great place to get started.